One of Our Conquerors - World eBook Library

One of Our Conquerors
of the powerful verbs. An envoy visits the principal Seats of
Learning in Europe. He is of a gravity to match that of his
unexampled and all but stupefying mission. A fluent linguist,
yet an Englishman, the slight American accent contracted
during a lengthened residence in the United States is
no bar to the patriotism urging him to pay his visit of exposition
and invitation from the Japanese Court to the distinguished
Doctor of Divinity Dr. Bouthoin. The renown of
Dr. Bouthoin among the learned of Japan has caused the
special invitation to him; a scholar endowed by an ample
knowledge and persuasive eloquence to cite and instance as
well as illustrate the superior advantages to Japan and civilization
in the filial embrace of mother English. ‘For to this it
must come predestinated,’ says the astonishing applicant. ‘We
seem to see a fitness in it,’ says the cogitative Rev. Doctor.
‘And an Island England in those waters, will do wonders for
Commerce,’ adds the former. ‘We think of things more pregnant,’
concludes the latter, with a dry gleam of ecclesiastical
knowingness. And let the Editor of the Review upon his recent
pamphlet, and let the prelate reprimanding him, and
let the newspapers criticizing his pure Saxon, have a care!
Funds, universally the most convincing of credentials, are
placed at Dr. Bouthoin’s disposal: only it is requested, that
for the present the expedition be secret. ‘Better so,’ says pure
Saxon’s champion. On a day patented for secresy, and swearing-in
the whole American Continent through the cables to
keep the secret by declaring the patent, the Rev. Dr. Bouthoin,
accompanied by his curate, the Rev. Mancate Semhians,
stumbling across portmanteaux crammed with lexicons and
dictionaries and other tubes of the voice of Hermes, takes
possession of berths in the ship Polypheme, bound, as they
mutually conceive, for the biggest adventure ever embarked
on by a far-thoughted, high-thoughted, patriotic pair speaking
pure Saxon or other.
Colney, with apologies to his hearers, avoided the custom
of our period (called the Realistic) to create, when casual
opportunity offers, a belief in the narrative by promoting
nausea in the audience. He passed under veil the Rev. Doctor’s
acknowledgement of Neptune’s power, and the temporary
collapse of Mr. Semhians. Proceeding at once to the comments
of these high-class missionaries on the really curious
inquisitiveness of certain of the foreign passengers on board,
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